


Hanukkah Sameach

by IreneSpring



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hanukkah, Latkes, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Rafael hosts Hanukkah parties, Rafael is Jewish, S'vivon | Dreidel, Sonny the spider's first Hanukkah, and the squad - Freeform, honestly the most fluff, if you understood that reference congratulations on being awesome, you'll never guess who Rafael's best friend is /s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27999813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneSpring/pseuds/IreneSpring
Summary: Rafael's annual concession to holiday spirit always takes the form of the Hanukkah celebrations he hosts for the squad.Sonny and Rafael's relationship grows over four years, but maybe a better measurement would be four Hanukkah parties.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 33
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Hanukkah!!!
> 
> I am so happy to write this you have no idea. I love Hanukkah so much and this project is so much fun. I'm Jewish, and was kind of disappointed to not find any Hanukkah fluff for my fandoms, so I figured I could just write it. I hope you like it. There will be a lot of random Hanukkah facts, and I'm sorry if it sticks out in the dialogue but I like sharing this stuff. It is part of my evil scheme: in order to read some of my best romance writing to date you must also read Hanukkah facts. 
> 
> Additional note: There are a bunch of different ways to spell "Hanukkah," I've always spelled it as "Hanukkah" but other spellings are absolutely correct.

Sonny is absolutely convinced that everyone at Manhattan SVU hates him. It’s been months, and none of them have treated him with anything other than casual distaste. He knows he fucked up his first day, he  _ knows  _ that, and he’s tried to fix it. He really has. He thinks he’s doing a good job even, right now. But he’s still positive that they would all transfer him to the Bronx if they could just find a reason. 

With the possible exception of Barba. Barba will absolutely sass him into next Tuesday, but Sonny’s pretty sure Barba doesn’t hate him. In fact, Barba lets him hang around to ask questions about the law, and then to just talk. Granted, it’s always Sonny who does the asking and the sticking around while Barba just sits there, but if he tried something like that with Rollins she would probably walk away with a glare. 

Sonny definitely likes Barba. He has for a while. He doesn’t just follow Barba to his office for legal advice. He’s got law school pretty much covered. It’s just that he would go pretty much anywhere if Barba was there. His crush on Barba used to worry him, because the last time he liked somebody this much he ended up getting kicked out of Staten Island and tossed from precinct to precinct like a ball during hot potato. However, he’s pretty sure that while Sergeant Benson isn’t his biggest fan, she wouldn’t kick him out for being gay. So he allows his crush to develop, and continues to show up at Barba’s office. 

“Alright, Counselor, I guess I’ll see you Monday,” Sonny says as he’s leaving Barba’s office after a particularly interesting discussion on civil forfeiture in human trafficking cases.

“You’re not coming to my party?” Rafael asks, raising an eyebrow in confusion. If Sonny didn’t know better he would think Barba looked disappointed. But he doesn’t have time to focus on that, since Barba just invited him to a party. Barba’s party. Presumably at Barba’s apartment.

“What party?” Sonny asks, staring at Barba like he’s grown a second head.

“Liv didn’t tell you? I host a Hanukkah party every year at my apartment. I have only about two friends who would come independently so I always invite the entire SVU squad.”

“Uh…” Sonny doesn’t know how to process that information. He always assumed Barba had a security system designed to smite any SVU detective who entered a two mile radius of his apartment. Also, a Hanukkah party? That didn’t make sense. He had asked Barba what he did for Thanksgiving and he had gone on a tirade about how such celebrations were of no use to him.

“You don’t have to go, obviously,” Barba says quickly. “I know you’re not Jewish.” 

“No, no, I want to go! Really! You just surprised me.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.”

Sonny isn’t sure what the protocol is for a Hanukkah party. Like if he’s supposed to bring anything. With Christmas parties, he brings cookies. Maybe cookies are a sign of disrespect at Hanukkah parties. He’s had Jewish friends, obviously, he lives in New York, but he’s never been to a party for a Jewish holiday. He briefly wonders if this is how Barba --maybe he should call him Rafael, what with the going to a party at his apartment-- feels when he goes to a Christmas party. He knocks on the door. It opens after a moment and he sees Rafael with a small smile on his face.

“Hello, Carisi, you showed up.”

“C’mon Rafael, it’s the holidays, you can’t call me Sonny?” 

“Well I see you’ve already taken the liberty of the first-name basis. Fine.  _ Sonny _ , you showed up.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Well, come in. Festivities haven’t really started. I still need to finish the latkes, and dreidel only comes after latkes.”

“Okay, I understood neither of those things, so I’ll just go with it.” 

“That’s probably for the best.” Sonny steps into Rafael’s apartment and looks around. It’s not incredibly decorated, but there’s a “Happy Hanukkah” streamer hung above the gateway to the kitchen and the candle thing that he recognizes from some of the synagogues he’s seen. He forgets what it’s called. He wonders exactly how hard Rafael would roll his eyes if he asked. 

“This is a nice set-up, Counselor.”

“I thought we weren’t doing formalities.”

“This is a nice set-up, Rafael.” Fuck it, he thinks. “What’s the candle thing called?” To his surprise, Rafael doesn’t roll his eyes, he just smiles. Sonny’s heart jumps, Rafael really does have a beautiful smile. 

“That’s a hanukiah. Most people think it’s called a menorah, and menorahs are also a symbol in Judaism, but we use a hanukiah for Hanukkah because it has nine candle holders, which you need for each night of Hanukkah and the shamash --the candle you use to light all the other candles-- as opposed to seven candle holders, which is what the menorah has.” Sonny nods. That’s easy enough to remember. 

“Alright, got it.”

“I’m going to the kitchen to finish the food. After that we’ll eat, and then light the candles. After that is dreidel. I’ll provide ample information at the time.” Sonny knows that was a dismissal, but Sonny doesn’t want to stop talking to Rafael.

“Do you want any help with the latkes?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of last chapter, this time from Rafael's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hanukkah! (yes I am going to start all of these chapters like that, why do you ask?)  
> This is probably some of the most ridiculous fluff I've ever written, but did I enjoy writing it? Yes. So enjoy dreidel as a romantic plot device.   
> A dreidel is a really common symbol of Hanukkah, but if by chance you've never seen one, this chapter might be really confusing. So I'm just going to include a link to a picture of a dreidel and the four Hebrew letters referenced:  
> https://www.myjewishlearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2002/11/dreidel-sides-letters--e1449268869620.jpg

“I didn’t know you could cook.” Rafael smiles at Sonny’s implied praise, watching as he helps himself to a third latke. 

“I can cook latkes, brisket for Passover, and challah if I have enough time. I’m afraid that’s the limit of my abilities.”

“Those are specific limits.”

“I only learned from my friend Ethel from synagogue. I’d only recently converted and I wanted to learn.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Ethel got a kick out of it. She said…” Rafael trails off when he realizes that the next part of his story might potentially embarrass him in front of his… his what? His person he has feelings for. That’s what he’s going with. 

“What did she say?” Sonny asks, and damn his eyes.

“She said I reminded her of her grandson.” Sonny laughs and Rafael wants to elbow him, but he looks so delighted that he can’t bring himself to intervene.

“You befriended an old lady?”

“And so what if I did?”

“No, it’s sweet. It’s just a surprise, you know? I mean, you’re so… formidable all the time. I have a hard time picturing you going out of your way to actually befriend someone.”

“Jealous?” Rafael asks, grinning as Sonny is immediately flustered. He tries not to read too much into it. Sonny is embarrassed. Obviously. That’s it. Or… or maybe Alex is right about Sonny’s feelings. Maybe Sonny does want to spend more time with him… Rafael realizes that Sonny is still sitting there, awkwardly picking at his latke. Rafael decides to have mercy on him. Maybe even to take a step to befriend him. “You’re giving me too much credit,” Rafael says with a small smile. “I was new to the synagogue and Ethel must have been head of the welcoming committee. She invited the temple’s monthly Shabbat dinner and we were friends after that. She reminds me of my grandmother.” Sonny nods quickly. Sonny made him food after his grandmother passed. He knows the weight that statement carries.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. Sorry. I wasn’t tryin’ to make fun of you for anything...”

“It’s fine. Now, I think everyone’s finished eating. Let’s play some dreidel.”

Once everyone has sat down and Rafael has explained the rules, the game begins in earnest. Olivia emerges as the early leader with a fortuitous Hey spin, but Rafael is still reasonably confident. His deliberations about whether Alex or Nick will pose more of a threat in upcoming turns are interrupted when it’s clear that Sonny cannot spin the dreidel to save his life. His early attempts were pathetic and when the fifth one lands after a haphazard skitter across the floor, Sonny appears to give up.

“Let’s just say that one works,” he declares.”

“Well of course you want to say that, you landed on Gimel,” Rafael says.

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“I explained it three times. Nun means nothing happens, Shin means you put one of your gelt into the pot, Hey means you get half the pot, Gimel means you get the entire thing.”

“Really? Awesome!” Sonny exclaims, reaching to collect the gelt in the center.

“Unfortunately for you, you have to actually spin the dreidel to get a Gimel.”

“Well, I can’t spin the dreidel.”

“Barba, it’s not a big deal,” Rollins sighs. “Just give Carisi the chocolate coins.” Rafael glances to Alex, who looks like she’s about to start laughing. They both know exactly how incapable of that Rafael is.

“No. We are playing dreidel. I’m not about to surrender just because Sonny is bad at it. Look.” Rafael grabs Sonny’s hand and puts the dreidel into it. “Your main problem is that you’re trying to use too many fingers. Just take three…” Rafael takes Sonny’s fingers and moves them into a pinched position above the top of the dreidel. “Now just hold that position and grab the dreidel…” Rafael looks up for a moment to see if Sonny is confused. Instead, he sees that Sonny is blushing slightly, and looking at where Rafael’s hand is still holding his. Rafael didn’t even think about that. Now Rafael feels his cheeks begin to heat up. Words. He needs words. He needs to finish his instructions. He doesn’t have any words. He just stares helplessly at the dreidel and their hands.

“Rafael, after that, you just have to twist your wrist and fingers to the right, right?” Alex. Thank God for Alex.

“Yes, right,” Rafael says, clearing his throat. “After you have the proper grip, you just have to spin it.” Rafael watches as Sonny nods, shaking his head quickly and then furrowing his brows in concentration. His spin is actually decent. Nowhere near the tight spin of Rafael’s, but close enough. 

“Oooh… that one!” Rollins exclaims when it lands on Shin. “Sorry, Carisi, looks like Barba just couldn’t give you a break.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get him next turn.” Sonny turns to Rafael and smiles. Rafael smiles back.

“That was fun, Rafael. We should do it again,” Sonny says as he puts on his coat.

“Next year.”

“Yeah. I’d say I need to practice but you’re the only Jewish person here and you didn’t win.”

“Well once Alex and Olivia joined forces I don’t think we had a chance. And besides, it really is just a game of chance.”

“You should have told that to Nick. I think he was about to break something after he got his third consecutive Nun.”

“You really think a statistics lecture would have helped?”

“Nah, but it would have been funny.” Rafael raises his eyebrows and lets out a surprised chuckle. 

“I suppose you’re right, Sonny.”

“I’m gonna get a plaque to remind me you said that,” Sonny says with a happy smile and Rafael rolls his eyes. “Happy Hanukkah, Rafael.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to be set in season 17, both previous chapters were set in season 16.  
> Ethel started off as a random character I was just going to mention once but now she has a whole backstory and personality (that is heavily based on my grandmother, who is my favorite person). She's going to be a major fixture of days 5 and 6 (season 18).


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of the season 17 chapters.   
> This one and the next is set after the yearly Hanukkah party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hanukkah!

“That was an awesome party,” Sonny says, putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher before joining Rafael on the couch. 

“Yeah, between dreidel and latkes it was a real barn burner,” Rafael says sarcastically, but he smiles as Sonny throws an arm around his shoulder. 

“Hey at least we won dreidel this time around.”

“The magic of teamwork.”

“Okay, so how is it that I have more holiday spirit than you right now?” Sonny sighs, grinning as Rafael leans into him. 

“I have plenty of holiday spirit. This is how I express it.”

“That explains a lot.”

“Hey,” Rafael protests half-heartedly, moving away slightly. “You’re supposed to like me. Otherwise, there’s the door.”

“I do like you, I like you very much.” Sonny loves Rafael, but he hasn’t said anything. Not yet. Not when he isn’t sure how Rafael will react to the declaration. They’ve been dating for a few months, and Sonny catches the affectionate glances Rafael gives him --like the one he’s giving him right now, for instance-- but having emotions and talking about them are two entirely different beasts.

And this moment, this moment Sonny really doesn’t want to fuck up. Instead, he gestures to their large pile of gelt on the coffee table.

“What’s the protocol for this stuff? Do we eat it all now or do we hoard it?”

“We eat it. Hanukkah gelt is tricky in that it’s really only delicious on Hanukkah, when it’s linked to the holiday. Otherwise it’s cheap and somewhat plastic-like chocolate.”

“But we still eat it?”

“It’s good now.”

“How does that work?”

“Why do you like pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving?”

“Fair.” Sonny laughs as Rafael eagerly unwraps a piece of gelt and pops it into his mouth. Sonny follows suit. It’s definitely not the best chocolate he’s ever eaten, but he agrees with Rafael. The atmosphere and the twinkle of the blue and gold lights Sonny had bought made it good. Once their pile is visibly smaller, Rafael puts his hand over Sonny’s to stop him from taking another piece.

“I think that’s enough for now. We still have six nights of Hanukkah, and well, I thought you could maybe come over each night. To light the candles with me. If you can make it. I know how your job works, obviously, so maybe now  _ every  _ night, but if you can. Or, um, if you want, that’s probably better wording…” Sonny grins and kisses Rafael.

“Of course I want to. Just watch me, I’m going to learn the prayers and everything. Be right there with you.”

“If you speak Hebrew with the same finesse that you speak Spanish, I think your strong and silent presence will be more than enough.”

“Alright, Raf. You know, I wish I had been there when you were first learning Hebrew. I bet you mispronounced Chet, I bet you said ‘chet,’ like the name.”

“First of all, I’m impressed you know how to pronounce Chet. Second of all, I did not. That would go against the song-”

“There’s a song?”

“Yes of course there’s a song.”

“Well, I have to hear the song.”

“No you don’t. Are you going to let me finish?”

“Probably not. Not until I hear the song. Sing me the song.”

“I’m not singing you the song. Now be quiet, I’m trying to say something actually genuinely sweet and you keep interrupting.” Sonny shuts up immediately. Rafael rarely gets sappy, that’s Sonny’s thing. Sonny’s the kind of person to tell Rafael how happy he is to have him in his life every night. Sonny’s the kind of person to leave little love notes in the lunches he makes for Rafael to take to the office. Rafael doesn’t do those things. Rafael’s idea of a grand gesture is waiting until Sonny gets home to watch  _ Master Chef _ . Sonny wants to hear what Rafael has to say. 

“Okay, say it.”

“Never mind. I’ll just look up the song for you. My computer’s in the other room.” Rafael actually gets up from his chair, and Sonny laughs at his audacity. 

“Aw, c’mon, I didn’t know you were trying to be nice.”

“And yet. On I go. Venturing towards the other room.”

“Raf.”

“You missed the moment. The moment is gone.”

“ _ Rafael _ .”

“Okay. You win. I was going to say third of all, I also wish you had been there with me years ago.” Well. Sonny isn’t sure exactly what his face is doing, but apparently he isn’t accurately portraying his joy, because Rafael looks down at his feet. “I know I’m not the most romantic person…” Sonny pulls him in for a kiss, and when they part, he makes sure to fix Rafael with the largest grin he can manage.

“I knew you were a sap.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“It’s the holidays. You were complaining I wasn’t joyous enough, so I figured I’d try something new. It’s a novel concept, really, actually trying to give voice to my feelings.” 

“I’ll consider it my Hanukkah present.” Rafael groans.

“Never mind. You’re awful and I wish we’d never met.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the "Alef Bet" song. Because of that song I can still list all the Hebrew letters from memory.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of season 17, from Rafael's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hanukkah!  
> For some reason the last chapter didn't really cause the story to move up in the Barisi recency feed, idk why, hopefully this one will work. I promise I did update yesterday.

“Are there any Hanukkah movies?”

“I’m sure there are. I never felt compelled to watch them, seeing as I didn’t like Christmas movies even when I celebrated.”

“What? Okay, Christmas movies are amazing.”

“They’re all the same and the endings are predictable.”

“They’re wholesome!”

“They’re tedious. Most of them are romantic comedies. I don’t have an hour to spend wondering if two protagonists are going to get together. You know they are, I know they are, they obviously are, why do I care?”

“Because watching them get together is what’s fun! Think about it, if people were looking at our get together story, would they rather watch us sitting on the couch eating gelt, or you holding my hand for the first time trying to teach me to spin the dreidel properly while I’m turning red and forgetting what a dreidel even is?”

“Gelt. If for no reason other than it would remind them to buy gelt.”

“You are the one person in the entire world who thinks that.”

“That just means I’m a visionary.”

“Or delusional.”

“You’ve met me, which do you think is more likely?”

“Smartass,” Sonny grumbles. Rafael laughs.

“If you want to watch a movie we can. Who knows, maybe it will be different when I’m actually happy.” Rafael notes Sonny’s small smile and rests his head on Sonny’s shoulder. Sonny has changed things for him. Two weeks ago he felt compelled to buy a romance novel for the first time in his life because one of the descriptions of the characters online reminded him of Sonny. Maybe romantic movies would work the same way. Maybe they would serve as something other than a reminder that he was almost entirely alone, because now he wasn’t alone. Besides, if watching a corny movie would make Sonny happy, then Rafael would do it. Rafael would do almost anything to make Sonny happy. 

Rafael loves Sonny, but he hasn’t said anything. 

Rafael likes to be ready for anything, to have a plan for anything. He has plans for what outfit he will wear tomorrow (navy blue suit with pale yellow shirt, maybe not his best color combination but definitely festive), he has plans for what he’s going to get his friends for Christmas (a rare book on the history of law for Alex, a necklace with a small amethyst for Liv, a cheap mug he got at the dollar store for Rita). And he has plans for darker events: he has a plan for what to do in case of any natural disaster, a plan for if he’s diagnosed with cancer, and he has a plan for what will happen if Sonny leaves him or if he is forced to leave Sonny. He doesn’t like thinking about it, but he has it. And saying ‘I love you’ would ruin it. It would give a finality to their relationship. Finality as part of a relationship has gone poorly for Rafael in the past. Very poorly. He likes to be able to move, to escape, to brush off anything that happens to him. And he knows that he can’t do that with Sonny, even without saying the words, but actually saying them would formally shatter his illusion.

“It’s your day, or rather, your week. We don’t have to watch a movie.” Sonny is still smiling at him and Rafael’s heart swells.

“Maybe we could just relax? I think I still have some sufganiyot hidden somewhere.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re just making up words,” Sonny says with a laugh, pressing a kiss to Rafael’s head as Rafael moves towards the kitchen. Rafael feels warm, and tries to think of something romantic to say.

“Jelly doughnuts.” Mission failed. Ugh. He’s supposed to be good with words.

“I love those.” Rafael returns with two plates, each with a sufganiyah. Rafael grins as Sonny lets out a pleased sound when he tastes the pastry. “Mmm, where’d you get these? I thought I'd charted all the bakeries in New York.”

“Ethel baked them for me.”

“You’re so pitiful she has to feed you?”

“More like I half-begged her to bake them since every time I try they always burn.”

“See, take a page out of my book. Groveling and big eyes always works.”

“That is patently false.”

“Sure.” They eat in silence until Sonny nudges Rafael. “Raf, can you get me some water?”

“Why can’t you get yourself water?”

“I’m comfortable and tired,” Sonny complains, fixing Rafael with his best pleading stare. 

“I’m comfortable and tired, too.”

“Please, Rafi.”

“You’re an adult.”

“ _ Please _ .” And now Sonny is starting to look genuinely sad and pathetic. And it really only is a short walk. And Sonny does nice things for him all the time. And maybe Rafael is a little bit weak. With a sigh, Rafael gets up and walks towards the cupboards.

“Fine.” Sonny waits until he’s crossed the room before calling after him.

“Hey, what was that about groveling and big eyes not working?” Rafael turns on his heels and stares at Sonny, who is smirking. Goddammit. 

“I hate you.”

“You don’t hate me.” Sonny stands up and walks over to Rafael.

“I do. I hate you. You’re the bane of my existence,” Rafael says even as he smiles when Sonny grabs his hand.

“Well, if you do, that really sucks. Do you want to know why?”

“Sure.”

“Because I love you.” Rafael stares at him, waiting for the other shoe to drop. His face must be incredibly stunned because Sonny laughs and leans in to peck him on the lips.

Rafael keeps staring.

“You don’t have to say it. I was just puttin’ it out there.” Rafael shakes his head, and can swear he hears all of his doomsday plans whooshing out the window.

“No. I… I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AO3 claims I am mis-spelling "sufganiyah" and "sufganiyot" even though no I am not. 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set slightly more than hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hanukkah!  
> This one contains minor spoilers for "Scenes from Forlini's," since it briefly covers some events that will be covered in great detail in SFF. SFF isn't really the kind of project that can be ruined by spoilers, but if you really don't want any hints on what's going to happen with Barisi in season 18, I figured I'd include the warning. 
> 
> Relevant other notes:  
> -The "Sonny almost dying" event that causes him problems is the events of S18E7  
> -The mi shebeirach is the Jewish prayer for healing. It covers both mental and physical distress.

Sonny adjusts his tie for what must be the 8th time in five minutes, and he swears he can hear Rafael rolling his eyes from behind him. Sonny doesn’t care. Sonny really needs everything to be perfect. It’s not like he hasn’t met Rafael’s family before. He met his mother months ago. And if their relationship could survive Rafael meeting Sonny’s family, he’s confident that no person will be able to drive them apart. And yet, here he is, nervously adjusting his tie that Rafael had insisted he didn’t even need, and waiting for Ethel to show up. 

Rafael and Sonny have been dating for almost two years. Rafael has assured Sonny that Ethel knows of his existence, has even seen pictures of him, but they’ve never met. They were going to, and then Sonny almost died, and then things were bad, so plans were put on hold. Sonny wonders how much Ethel knows about why they were on hold. 

“She’s going to love you.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you.” That makes Sonny smile, and he turns around to face Rafael.

“But what if she doesn’t?”

“Then you only have to wait an hour before everyone else gets here and the party really starts.”

“Rafi…”

“Sonny, even if she doesn’t like you, it won’t change anything for us, okay? Think of it as a test of her judgement, not of your quality.”

“Okay.” Sonny takes a deep breath. He can do this. The doorbell rings. He cannot do this. Rafael smiles and opens the door.

“Ethel, good to see you.”

“Aw, Rafael, so nice. The pleasure is mine.” She pats Rafael on the cheek and looks around, her eyes falling on Sonny. “This must be your boyfriend.”

“Dominick Carisi, Jr., ma’am, but call me Sonny.”

“Okay, Sonny. Ethel Katz. Tell me, are you Jewish?” Sonny freezes, his eyes immediately finding Rafael’s. Miraculously, Rafael doesn’t look at all concerned.

“N-no, ma’am. Catholic. Staten Island Catholic. My whole life. But-” Sonny stops when Ethel starts laughing.

“Aw, Sweetheart, your face. I’m just joking. You can call me Ethel. Now, from what I can smell, I’d guess Rafael is about to start the latkes. I better help with that. He adds too much salt. Lovely young man, but he adds too much salt.”

“Ethel, I’m right here.”

“And he’s smart too. See, he knew I was talking about him.” Sonny laughs as Rafael glares.

“He’s very smart.”

“Indeed. Come, come. I suppose I’ll have to re-teach Rafael how to make quality latkes.” Sonny obediently follows, Rafael sighing before joining them. “And take off that tie, you’re not at shul,” Ethel adds as they reach the kitchen. 

“It’s my kitchen,” Rafael grumbles half-heartedly as Ethel once again swats his hand away when he tries to help.

“Something tells me it’s more Sonny’s kitchen than yours. Sonny seems like the kind of young man who cooks.”

“I do. Learned from my nonna.”

“That’s very sweet. I bet you stepped back and learned. I bet you didn’t keep trying to add too much salt even though your nonna had been cooking since before your parents were born.”

“Please, it’s my party, you shouldn’t be working.”

“It’s not work, Rafael. Besides, you still need to set up.”

“What? The decorations are done.”

“I see.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“You don’t have any others? You told me there were lights last year.”

“I have them, I just couldn’t set them up. I mistakenly assumed I would be cooking the food for my own party.”

“Yes. And now that you are aware of your mistake, you can correct it.”

“I feel like you’re trying to get me to leave the room so you can interrogate Sonny.”

“Well I could do it with you here but I feel like that would be more pressure for your boyfriend.”

“Fine,” Rafael says, raising his hands in defeat and walking out of the room.

“So…” Sonny starts, watching Rafael disappear into the hallway. “What do you want to know?”

“I don’t have any specific questions. I already know a lot.”

“Oh.”

“I know that you have a big family, but I know that Rafael’s only met them once,” Ethel begins, and Sonny flushes, opening his mouth to defend himself. Ethel gives him a kind smile. “I know it’s not your fault, dear, I know you did what you could. I know that your faith is important to you, and I respect that. I also respect how despite that you’ve always been so respectful of Rafael. That shouldn’t be as rare as it is.”

“Thank you.”

“I know you’ve gone through a lot in the past few months. I know it’s been difficult. Rafael came to synagogue on a weekday to say the mi shebeirach. I knew something was wrong.”

“I’m getting through it-” Sonny starts, but Ethel raises a hand.

“I know. I’m not judging you. This isn’t a test. But for what it’s worth, you’d be passing if it was.” That makes Sonny smile. “What I want to ask you is what you want to tell me. Anything you want me to know, that you think I might not.”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Really?” Ethel raises a questioning eyebrow that reminds Sonny of Rafael. Maybe that’s why he suddenly wants to impress her.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I want to marry him. In a church, in a synagogue, I don’t care. As long as he’s with me. Did you know that?” 

“Oh, Sweetheart. Of course I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow is part of the actual Hanukkah party! I hope you guys liked Ethel, because she'll be part of it.  
> I included Ethel because I wanted to dive more deeply into the "family togetherness between the generations" aspect of Hanukkah. I was born Jewish, but my mother converted, and while her family were supportive, they didn't really have any interest in participating in Jewish holidays. She celebrated a lot of holidays with my paternal grandmother. So that's my idea for why Rafael's mother is never involved in these celebrations, and why I wanted to bring in a new character. Ethel's speaking style and overall personality is based off my grandmother, and she's named after my great-aunt.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Season 18 Hanukkah party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hanukkah!  
> This story once again failed to update properly yesterday, wish me luck on today's offering.

“This one likes to help. So helpful,” Ethel says to the squad, patting Rafael on the shoulder. His eyes find the ground. He should have imposed a moratorium on conversations about him. It wouldn’t have worked, but he could have tried. “I was telling my friend Rosalyn about this, the one I play bridge with. Rafael, you remember Ros.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“He doesn’t, but he lies,” Ethel says, turning back to the rest of the detectives. “So I told her about how helpful he is, always volunteering at the synagogue. She told me this doesn’t surprise her, because of his job. He likes to help.”

“He really does,” Alex says with a smirk. He looks around the room to find all the detectives similarly amused. He needs better friends. Friends that don’t enjoy torturing him. He looks over to Sonny, who looks enthralled by the story. Traitor.

“Very helpful. But he forgets to eat. He volunteers to do a Torah reading on a Saturday service, I find him practicing Torah, and I ask him when he eats last. He tells me he doesn’t know, but he has to practice so he can read the Torah. I remind him that if he passes out, he reads no Torah. He eats some soup.” Sonny claps lightly and smirks. It is a good thing that Rafael loves him because otherwise Rafael might have to injure him. As Ethel starts her next story, Rafael grabs Sonny by the arm and pulls him towards the kitchen.

“I am in hell.” Sonny rolls his eyes. Rafael should not have taught him that.

“I thought Jews didn’t believe in hell.”

“We don’t believe in hell in the afterlife, but we are not currently in the afterlife, we are alive, and we are in hell,” Rafael says with a dramatic glare at Ethel.

“Okay, Raf.”

“They’re all going to be insufferable.”

“I mean is Rollins going to bring you soup every time she gets sent to your office for the next month? Yeah. But hey, free soup.” He makes a compelling point, but Rafael isn’t about to tell him that.

“They seem to get along, at least.”

“Are ya kidding me? She’s a hit. I saw her giving her kugel recipe to the Lieu.”

“Nothing like my humiliation to bring people together.”

“Well if that’s the trick, I’m going to tell people about that time I caught you singing Katy Perry. I could use some friends.”

“I’m going to tell them about that day when you were shadowing me when you wore your shirt inside-out for almost the entire day.”

“Go ahead. Have you met me? I’m not embarrassed by anything.” Rafael scowls, because he’s right. Sonny used to wear ties he knew were ugly for the entire day just to get Rafael to react. Sonny has no shame. Not about frivolous things, anyway. Rafael feels stupid. Why should he care if the squad knew whatever story Ethel was telling them, or about his secret love of assorted Katy Perry songs? It was an odd epiphany to have, in the middle of his Hanukkah party, surrounded by coworkers and poorly displayed lights, with his boyfriend staring at him and waiting for a response. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Rafael pauses, making eye contact with Sonny, melting at the love he sees in his eyes. “I was just thinking about how much I admire you.”

“What?”

“I do. Sometimes I think you don’t know that. Or don’t believe it. Or maybe that you blame yourself for the problems we had a few months ago, so you think you don’t deserve it. But I don’t blame you. And I admire you.”

“What… Raf, where did this come from?”

“You wouldn’t be embarrassed if I told everyone about the shirt story.”

“That’s it?”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“No,” Sonny says, wiping at his eyes with one hand. “You could never disappoint me. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Sonny pulls Rafael into a kiss, and Rafael is just about to surrender himself to his emotions when he hears a wolf whistle from behind them.

“Aw, c’mon. Real classy, Rollins, real classy,” Sonny grumbles, pulling away. 

“Hey, we needed to get your attention, and y’all were busy.”

“What could you possibly want?” Rafael asks, narrowing his eyes.

“We’re out of latkes.”

“Seriously?” 

“There weren’t enough this year,” Alex agrees.

“Well, that actually isn’t my fault. I wasn’t allowed to make them this year.”

“It’s a poor host who blames his guests,” Ethel chimes in. “You could have helped.”

“I-” Rafael can barely begin to answer.

“While we’re naming issues, they were also a little bland,” Olivia adds. “They could have used more salt.”

“I knew it!” 

“Congratulations Rafael, the gentile who has probably only ever eaten your latkes prefers your latkes.”

“She’s just mad because I tried to add salt and to help make more latkes and she refused. She pulled her ‘grandmother knows best routine,’” Rafael informs the squad.

“Congratulations, Barba, you really did triumph over your 85-year-old friend,” Rollins says snarkily.

“Do I look 85 to you, young lady?” Ethel asks, narrowing her eyes.

“N-no ma’am, I just meant-” Ethel and Sonny burst out laughing.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing, young man, you fell for it too. The both of you. So gullible.” Ethel pats Rollins’ arm. “Though for the record, I’m not a day older than 84.”

“You know, Ethel throws a really good Hanukkah party for a novice,” Sonny says after the last of the guests leave and he starts helping Rafael clean up.

“Excuse me?”

“I said-”

“I heard what you said. I was giving you an opportunity to deny that you said that Ethel hosted my Hanukkah party.”

“She who maketh the latkes possesseth the Hanukkah party.”

“As profound as that is, it is  _ not  _ how that works.”

“Really?”

“Of course not. Whose apartment did everyone come over to?”

“Ours.”

“Who bought the food supplies and drinks?”

“Us.”

“Who decorated?”

“Us.”

“It’s our party. Besides, according to Liv, the latkes weren’t even better.” Sonny smiles widely, and Rafael wonders what exactly he said. He goes over his words in his mind and is no closer to the answer. “What?”

“You said ‘our party.’”

“My mistake.  _ My  _ party. You’re my…sidekick.”

“Well you’re my trophy boyfriend when we invite Bella and Tommy over for Christmas, so it even outs.”

“Fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of season 19 event. Sonny and Rafael decide to adopt a cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hanukkah!

“Okay, everyone! Time for candles, be quiet!” A hush falls over the squad and Sonny grins. This is the sixth Hanukkah party Rafael’s hosted for the 16th precinct, and it’s Sonny’s fourth. Everyone knows the drill. 

Except the drill isn’t working.

The match isn’t lighting.

After his seventh attempt, Rafael sets the box down with a sigh. 

“These matches are defective,” he says. Sonny laughs, because Rafael is glaring at the matches as though they’d conspired against him. Rafael turns his glare to Sonny, but Sonny just smiles. Rafael’s glares have completely ceased to affect him.

“You got them, Raf, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Where are the backup matches?”

“The backup matches?”

“Yes. As in the matches you bought, and then I said that we already had matches, and you said that your matches could be the backup matches, and you thought that was very clever.”

“It was clever. And clearly so was getting the other matches.”

“Where are they?”

“I didn’t hide them.”

“They weren’t in the cabinet with these matches.”

“Well I don’t know what kind of 2nd century sarcophagus you pulled those out of, but mine are in the drawer just below the microwave.”

“Guys, are we going to get on with it anytime soon?” the Lieutenant calls and Sonny instinctively nods.

“Sure are, Lieu, we just need to replace the matches.” He turns back to Rafael. “Drawer below the microwave.” Rafael retreats and returns triumphantly with the backup (Sonny’s) matches. He tries to light one and fails, and the entire room groans.

“Just let someone else do it, Barba,” Fin suggests. 

“I’ve been Jewish for twenty years, I’m not about to surrender my right to light the Hanukkah candles just because all matches have suddenly decided to fail.” As if heeding his words, the next match lights.

“Fire!” Alex calls and Rafael rolls his eyes. Everyone holds their breath as Rafael lights each candle, and Sonny’s pretty sure he hears an audible sigh of relief from several people when all candles are lit and twinkling in the hanukiah.

“Victory!” Rafael declares. As the squad claps, Sonny grins widely. He’s pretty sure the clapping is sarcastic, but he doesn’t care. They look happy. The squad. His family. This is it, he thinks to himself, this is the happiest he’s ever been in his life. He has his sister Bella, his squad family, and his husband. All he needs now is a cat. If only Rafael would agree. Sonny thinks that if he asked Rafael about getting a cat now, Rafael would say yes. Rafael is looking at the candles, but he has a soft expression on his face. It’s Hanukkah, and half of Sonny’s family still won’t speak to him, and Sonny thinks he deserves a cat. 

“We should get a cat,” Sonny whispers, walking over to Rafael. Rafael looks up at him, the candlelight reflecting beautifully in his eyes. Sonny doesn’t need a cat. He just needs to be here, with Rafael looking at him like that, forever.

“This again?” So maybe Rafael isn’t as swept up in the Hanukkah spirit as Sonny thought he was. 

“C’mon Rafi, it’s a good idea. We’ve been married for months now, and we have no plans for kids, and we have more than enough money to cover the costs, and you have less hours since you started working for the ACLU, so maybe you’d like some company-”

“I wish you’d stop saying that.”

“What?”

“That I need a cat to keep me company. I’m happy, Sonny. Even with your hours. You’ve been asking me to get a cat ever since I left the DA’s office. I don’t need a cat. You’re still enough.” Sonny blinks at him, and curses himself for possibly creating the dumbest misunderstanding of his life, and that’s saying something.

“Is that why you think I want to get a cat?”

“Is it not?”

“No, it’s not. I don’t want to adopt a pet because I pity you, Raf, I want to get a cat because I want our family to get bigger and because I like cats.”

“Oh, then fine.”

“Really? That easily?”

“I don’t like being pitied.” Sonny laughs and Rafael elbows him.

“Okay, so we’ll get a cat. What should we name it?”

“I don’t know.”

“We should name it Catalina.”

“After my grandmother?”

“It’s your grandmother’s name and it’s a pun. It’s objectively the best name.”

“What?”

“ _ Cat _ -alina, get it?”

“Do you think it’s too late for an annulment?”

“You call Noah ‘child.’ You’re really going to have a problem calling your cat ‘Cat?’” 

“Has anyone ever told you that your law degree makes you annoying?”

“Only Rollins, constantly.”

“She’s right.”

“I still haven’t heard you technically reject the name.”

“Unfortunately for me it really is the best name.”

“It’s settled then!”

“It is.”

“What’s settled?”

“Rafi and I are getting a cat!”

“I thought you told me you were already agreed to do that?” Rollins asks. 

“Oh?” Sonny winces as Rafael raises an eyebrow.

“It was part of a whole plan. I told Rollins that so that hopefully she’d mention it in front of you and then you’d be forced to either agree or embarrass yourself.”

“Clever.”

“I thought it was at the time.”

“You really should have just told me why you wanted the cat.”

“Well now that seems obvious.”

“I should hope so.”

“Can we talk about something else.”

“I think it’s time for dreidel.”

“Yes! Dreidel time! Everyone, it’s time for dreidel! And not discussing any more plans that I definitely didn’t have!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three things:  
> -In "Something Good Happened" they also have a cat and their cat is named Ruth. However in that world the political landscape matches the real world's, so they named their cat after RBG. In this story, the political landscapes do not match, so there is no RBG, so they do not name their cat Ruth.  
> -If dialogue wasn't supposed to be 95% of a story, why is it so fun to write?  
> -Thanks so much for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of season 19. Dreidel (again) and even more ridiculous fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy (last night of) Hanukkah!!!
> 
> So obviously this is the last chapter. I hope people enjoyed this story because it was definitely enjoyable to write.

“I love it when things come full circle,” Liv says with a smile.

“What are you talking about?” Rafael asks. 

“Well, it seems like just yesterday you and Sonny were coworkers and he couldn’t spin a dreidel, and now you two are married and he just cleaned us out.”

“Gimel, even when legitimately won, is not the end of the game. Otherwise all dreidel games would be short.”

“Still, you think you can make up the difference?”

“I admit I would like my odds better if we hadn’t banned teams.”

“It ruined the game for everyone who’s single,” Amanda reminds him.

“You could have teamed up with Fin.”

“Then I would have had to split the gelt with him. That’s not fun.”

“And this is more fun?” Rafael demands, gesturing to Sonny’s massive pile of gelt.

“I’m not sharing,” Sonny chimes in.

“Half of that is legally mine.”

“Only if we get divorced.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“Rafael, it’s your turn.” He gets a Shin and sighs. 

“Now, if everyone else just gets the exact same spin for three turns, we’ll eventually have enough in the pot that a Gimel will mean someone can rival Sonny.”

“This is a real fun game, Rafael,” Alex says.

“Tradition is tradition.” Rafael responds simply.

“Well you certainly cleaned up,” Rafael says after guests have left, noting Sonny’s collection of gelt.

“Well after no one actually spun a Shin for eighteen turns I think it was inevitable.”

“You’ve come a long way.”

“It would have been difficult to get worse than I was.”

“That is true. By the way, my mother called. She’s agreed to actually come to the Hanukkah party next year.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“It remains to be seen.” Sonny laughs lightly and squeezes Rafael’s hand. 

“She’s not allergic to cats is she?”

“No, she’s not. But she will absolutely lecture us if the furniture has cat hair on it, so we’re going to need to get one of those vacuum things.”

“Vacuum things?’” 

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“I think we can manage to afford a vacuum thing to appease your mother. My mother, meanwhile, completed the previously unaccomplished feat of asking when we’re going to give her grandchildren without acknowledging that we’re married.”

“Lovely.”

“Bella suggested we name the cat ‘The Homosexual Agenda’ so that she can send my mom pictures of the cat with the message ‘Your granddaughter already loves The Homosexual Agenda.’ She says we can call it ‘Aggie’ for short.”

“Are you Carisis genetically programmed to create excellent cat names?”

“It’s possible.”

“Well Cat already has a name.”

“Yep. That’s what I told Bella.”

“I really am excited to get the cat,” Rafael admits. It’s true. He likes cats, they’re more relaxed than dogs, not to mention cleaner and lower maintenance. And Rafael’s always hated when people say they don’t love you. He thinks it’s quite possible to show love without big, in-your-face gestures all the time. It better be. Otherwise Rafael is screwed. Not to mention that if Rafael is really, truly honest with himself, it does get a little lonely sitting in the empty apartment by himself while Sonny is working until two in the morning. He never used to get lonely by himself, with the possible exception of Valentines Day, and well, Hanukkah. “We’re going to have to put the hanukiah on a high shelf, one Cat can’t reach.”

“I think we can also manage that.” Sonny kisses him, and Rafael finally manages to stop thinking practically. There’s just him and Sonny. Rafael loves him so much.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I feel bad about the divorce joke. And the annulment joke.”

“Don’t, they were funny. I knew you weren’t serious.”

“Really?”

“You think we would have made it this far if I couldn’t tell when you were joking?”

“That’s true. I just worry.”

“I know that. But I really do love you. The best day of my life was when we got married.”

“Mine too.”

“Duh.” Rafael rolls his eyes and Sonny pulls him in again. 

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“I’m your Hanukkah miracle?”

“Stop.”

“Okay.”

“Besides, that wouldn’t even work. We didn’t meet on Hanukkah, nor did we start dating on Hanukkah, nor did you propose on Hanukkah, nor did we get married on Hanukkah. So how would you be my  _ Hanukkah  _ miracle?”

“Makes sense. I’m your generic miracle.”

“Exactly.”

“I’ll take it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! There will be one chapter each night of Hanukkah, two for each year Sonny and Rafael work together at SVU!


End file.
